


A Collection of Recollections

by Shaded Mazoku (Ashkaztra)



Series: Fragmented [4]
Category: Final Fantasy VI
Genre: 1 Sentence Fiction, Community: 1sentence, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-28
Updated: 2011-04-28
Packaged: 2017-10-18 18:33:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/191944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashkaztra/pseuds/Shaded%20Mazoku
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The past is a patchwork blanket, and so many stories can be told from the patches.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Collection of Recollections

**Author's Note:**

> For 1sentence on LJ's theme set Epsilon.

#01 - Motion: If he could at all avoid it, Kefka was never still, a flurry of many-coloured motions and touches that could drive Leo insane if he let them, but he had to admit he'd be bored without them.

#02 - Cool: On the warmest summer days, Kefka would use his magic to freeze the metal plates that form his balcony and bring Leo there to just enjoy the cool surface beneath them.

#03 - Young: Leo is eighteen when they first meet, a promising young officer fresh from the camps, and Kefka smiles as he watches his newly-appointed baby sitter and wonders if he was ever that young.

#04 - Last: Of course it could never last, they're far to different, and they've both acknowledged it, but only one regrets their relationship.

#05 - Wrong: Arguing anything with Kefka is nothing but an exercise in futility, and to make it even worse, he delights in tormenting Leo by switching sides in the middle of the argument, rather than to admit that he was wrong.

#06 - Gentle: Kefka was actually capable of being gentle on occasions, rubbing soothing ointment into Leo's tense shoulders until the other man feels boneless and relaxed under his fingers.

#07 - One: There's nobody else like Kefka, and Leo is quite relieved about that, and not only because he likes having claimed a one of a kind.

#08 - Thousand: Some of his soldiers carry letters from their loved ones in their coats, in the pocket above their heart; Leo carries a small photograph taken by Kefka, a daguerrotype of Kefka, Leo and Terra on Kefka's balcony, and no words are needed to accompany it.

#09 - King: The emperor has no official heir, so if something were to happen to him, the throne would likely be in Kefka's hands, but when Leo asks him if he'd ever want to be emperor, Kefka only laughs and says he has a different goal in mind.

#10 - Learn: Everyone warns Leo that Kefka is utterly insane, incapable of rational thought or reason, but Leo watches Kefka's eyes flicker across people, studying their every movement, he thinks they're underestimating the man, and knows that is exactly what Kefka wants them to think.

#11 - Blur: Leo asks, once, what the infusions were like, and Kefka claims he remembers little and that it's all a blur, but the look in his eyes belies that.

#12 - Wait: Kefka is terribly impatient, Leo knows, but that doesn't mean he can't wait for great lengths of time when he wants something.

#13 - Change: He once heard how change was a good thing, but Leo considers how he's changed since he met Kefka and wonders how much he can change before he no longer recognises himself.

#14 - Command: Leo's a natural commander, and years of experience has honed his skills, but he can't ever make Kefka do anything unless he wants to.

#15 - Hold: He never lets go of his treasured belongings, Kefka thinks, and digs his nails into Leo's back.

#16 - Need: He knows Kefka is someone he wants, not someone he needs, but it tends to get muddled when they're around each other.

#17 - Vision: He dreams of a world in change, of magic surging in his blood, and of unlimited power, but his dreams are turned grey and sour as he realises there's no room for Leo in his world.

#18 - Attention: There's cat in Kefka, somewhere, Leo thinks, as Kefka all but crawls into his lap and demands his attention right then.

#19 - Soul: Lying on Leo's stomach, Kefka stares up into Leo's eyes as though he can see his soul, a smile on his lips as if he's amused by what he sees there.

#20 - Picture: Though he has an apparatus for daguerrotype, and loves playing with the chemicals, Kefka prefers a set of coal and graphite on a paper to capture the sight of his sleeping lover.

#21 - Fool: The idea of a fool being in a role of power terrifies people, but Leo knows they'd be far more terrified if they knew how brilliant Kefka is behind the gaudy clothing and bright paint.

#22 - Mad: There are layers to Kefka's insanity, Leo learns, and it unsettles him; the whimsical and cheerful insanity hides a far scarier madness underneath it, more calculating and far more dangerous.

#23 - Child: Leo just doesn't understand, Kefka thinks, brushing Terra's hair carefully; he sees a child where he should be reasonable and see a pretty toy.

#24 - Now: He wonders what it's like to be Kefka, seemingly always living in the present, never dwelling on the past, and knows he'll never taste that freedom for himself.

#25 - Shadow: "Originally, before they found Magitek, I was trained as an assassin, you know," Kefka murmurs, wrapping his arms around Leo from the shadows.

#26 - Goodbye: His last goodbye doesn't come as Leo lies dying at his feet, nor does it come as the statues' power flood through his veins; it comes later, as his tower forms around him, licking the last remnants of Leo's blood from underneath his nails.

#27 - Hide: Leo hates learning about Kefka's secrets, because every time he does, he can't help to wonder what other things are hidden under Kefka's strange mask.

#28 - Fortune: An old woman once predicted that Leo would be lucky in love, and when he remembers, he snorts in amusement; "lucky" isn't how he'd define his current relationship.

#29 - Safe: "I could kill you, you know," Leo says and Kefka throws his head back and laughs that eerie laugh of his, grinning widely as he replies: "But you won't."

#30 - Ghost: He knows Leo wasn't vindictive enough that he'd come back as a ghost, so why is it that he still lingers just out of sight and reach?

#31 - Book: There are days where Leo swears he needs a dictionary to understand half of what Kefka says, and when he mentions it to Kefka, the other man just chuckles and, three days later, presents him with a nice little leather-bound book and a pen.

#32 - Eye: It's funny how, no matter how many people are in the room, Leo can always pick out Kefka's gaze on him, crowd or no crowd.

#33 - Never: There are no words of love from either of them; Leo feels caught enough without them, and Kefka has long since told himself he can't feel such things.

#34 - Sing: Surprisingly enough, Kefka is a pretty decent singer, though Leo questions the legitimity of the lyrics he uses on many an occasion.

#35 - Sudden: Leo thinks their first kiss is very sudden, pressed together under a tiny roof during a torrential downpour, but Kefka snickers as he thinks about the many scenarios he's thought up to get the opportunity.

#36 - Stop: He half-expects to be burned alive as he confronts Kefka to tell him he intends to stop seeing him, but Kefka's response is so cold and distant it's almost a relief when he later orders a village burned to the ground just because he can.

#37 - Time: As time passes, Leo can see the traces on his skin as new scars and new grey hair appear, but if it meant returning Kefka to what he'd been when they met and not what he has become, Leo would have taken many times the marks of time he now bears.

#38 - Wash: Alluring as the idea of joining Kefka in the bathtub may be, the tub is copper and filled with water, and though fire may be Kefka's favoured element, Leo's not taking his chances with the lightening, either.

#39 - Torn: Some days, Leo longs for the time everything was black and white and he wasn't torn between his mind and his heart.

#40 - History: Though Leo's first reaction when he sees Kefka's magic for the first time is to feel awe and amazement, there's a small part of his mind that wonders in nothing was learned from the War of the Magi, and that part gets bigger every time he sees it.

#41 - Power: Leo doesn't want power for himself, but for his people, which is all right with Kefka, because then he won't have to share.

#42 - Bother: It's great that Kefka is getting more skilled with his powers every day, but does he have to prove it by dripping ice water down Leo's neck and constantly boiling his coffee in the middle of a meeting?

#43 - God: Worship me, he says, and the vermin scuttle to do his bidding, but nothing can call voices of prayer back from beyond the grave.

#44 - Wall: Well, yes, Kefka agrees, he could just have gone around the wall, but really, corrosive acid is far more fun, and Leo shouldn't scowl like that, just because he miscalculated and the acid ate Leo's armour.

#45 - Naked: Kefka very rarely gets entirely naked, unless he is bathing, as he always feels cold even though he's feverish to the touch, so when he does, Leo likes to pull him into his arms and map out the entire surface of his skin.

#46 - Drive: On a whim, Kefka talks Leo into coming with him to borrow a Magitek Armour, and then leaves the controls to Leo; when they crash it, Leo is mortified, but as Kefka laughs in genuine happiness, he still thinks it's worth the inevitable fallout.

#47 - Harm: The first time Leo actually causes Kefka bodily harm, he's horrified, until Kefka halfway purrs and whispers to him, knowing perfectly which one of them who are most harmful to the other.

#48 - Precious: "I wish I could keep you in a box all to myself," Kefka murmurs one night before falling asleep; Leo's own sleep is a long time coming.

#49 - Hunger: One of Leo's soldiers asks his troop mate, somewhat worriedly, if the odd court mage isn't looking at their general with the oddest hunger in his eyes, and neither of them are sure if it's attraction or if Kefka honestly plans on eating General Leo.

#50 - Believe: Leo has a strict set of beliefs that he adheres to, and Kefka gets a sick enjoyment out of finding loopholes in every single one of those beliefs.


End file.
